With early burst, Lady Bears drum Aggies

Updated 12:26 am, Sunday, February 12, 2012

WACO — The lone surprise of Saturday night in the Ferrell Center came when country music star Trace Adkins and Baylor coach Kim Mulkey strolled hand in hand onto the court prior to the golden-throated Adkins' rendition of the national anthem.

The next two hours played exactly to script, however, as the top-ranked Lady Bears overwhelmed yet another opponent, this time No. 15 Texas A&M to the tune of 71-48 before a sellout crowd of 10,627.

Adkins, who attended Louisiana Tech at the same time as Mulkey in the early 1980s, has confessed to a crush on the feisty coach. Afterward, he pulled her aside and asked, “Do you ever let up?”

With less than a minute remaining, Mulkey inserted her bench players and her daughter, Makenzie Robertson, quickly turned over the ball, prompting a brief outburst by Mulkey — with the Lady Bears leading by 23.

“I'm going to coach until the bitter end,” Mulkey said. “I still love her — I love her more than anybody on the floor. (But) I challenge everybody to stay focused and don't look at the score.”

Baylor had extra incentive for its extreme focus — a 58-46 loss to A&M in last year's Elite Eight in Dallas. The Aggies moved on to their first national title.

“We didn't want a repeat of that game,” said Griner, who led all scorers Saturday with 21 points and tallied six of the Lady Bears' seven blocks.

Griner and point guard Odyssey Sims, who followed with 19 points, formed a potent one-two punch against the staggered Aggies, who'd won four straight prior to running into the Baylor locomotive.

“(Baylor) had a statement game to make, and they made it,” A&M coach Gary Blair said.

Blair lamented that the game wasn't closer for a national TV audience, “where people aren't turning us off at halftime and watching ‘Hee Haw' or something.”

Mulkey said her team took exception to A&M center Kelsey Bone claiming “there's no reason we shouldn't run the table” following a victory a week earlier. Bone, who sat out last season after transferring from South Carolina, finished with four points and missed five of her six shots in her collegiate debut against Griner, whom she'd faced twice in high school.

With a couple of minutes remaining Saturday, the boisterous crowd broke into a “Big 12” chant, in honor of the Aggies' impending Big 12 exit and Southeastern Conference entrance this summer. A&M isn't scheduled to play in Waco again, and Mulkey has said she has no intention of scheduling the Aggies.

Meanwhile, Blair exited Waco further impressed with Griner, who entered the contest leading the nation in blocks per game (5.3) and field-goal percentage (.627).

“Griner is the best who's ever played the game,” said Blair, who added that the only thing the junior lacks is a national title.

At this rate, however, the Lady Bears are the heavy favorites to earn their first title since 2005 — especially after Saturday's spanking of the defending national champions.

“The key to beating Baylor is the key itself,” Blair said. “You've got to lock Griner in the bathroom and not let her out.”